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Dark Lady (song)

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Main page "Dark Lady" is a pop rock song recorded by American singer-actress Cher, and the title selection from her eleventh studio album, Dark Lady. Written and
Contents
"Dark Lady"
composed by John Robert "Johnny" Durrill and produced by Snuff Garrett, it was released as the album's first single in early 1974. The song became Cher's
Current events third solo U.S. #1 hit on March 22, 1974.
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1 Song information and story
Donate
2 Music video
Contribute 3 Charts and certifications
Help 3.1 Weekly charts
Learn to edit 3.2 Year-end charts
Community portal 3.3 Certifications
Recent changes
4 Formats and track listing
Upload file Single cover
5 Credits and personnel
Single by Cher
Tools 6 Cover versions
from the album Dark Lady
What links here 7 References
B-side "Two People Clinging to a
Related changes 8 External links Thread"
Special pages "Carousel Man" (Argentina)
Permanent link
Released February 1974
Page information Song information and story [ edit ]
Recorded 1973–1974
Cite this page
Wikidata item The song was written and composed by The Ventures' keyboard player, Johnny Durrill. He recalled: "I spent a week in his (Snuff Garrett's) office playing him Genre Pop rock
songs, one of which Cher recorded. Later, when I was on tour in Japan with the Ventures, I was writing an interesting song. I telegraphed the unfinished lyrics Length 3:27
Print/export to Garrett. He said to 'make sure the bitch kills him.' Hence, in the song both the lover and fortune teller were killed."[1] Thus, "Dark Lady" may with some Label MCA
Download as PDF accuracy be described as a murder ballad, even though the narrator of its lyrics essentially commits a crime of passion. Songwriter(s) Johnny Durrill
Printable version
The critic Peter Fawthrop, writing for AllMusic, called this song a "grimly comedic folk song."[2] Producer(s) Snuff Garrett
Languages Cher singles chronology
The "Dark Lady" of the song's title is a gypsy fortune teller in New Orleans with a history of misandry (the narrator of the song describes seeing scratches on
Español "Carousel "Dark Lady" "Train of
the inside of the fortune teller's limousine from her previous conquests). The narrator follows the fortune teller's limousine to her lair and pays money for a
Italiano Man" (1974) Thought"
fortune; as a result of the fortune, she learns that her lover has been unfaithful to her with, as the (audibly uncomfortable) fortune teller says, "someone else (1973) (1974)
‫עברית‬
Nederlands
who is very close to you." Advised to leave the fortune teller's shop, never to return, and to forget she has ever seen the fortune teller's face, the narrator
Português returns home in a state of shock, unable to sleep. But then she realizes to her horror that she had once smelled, in her own room, the very perfume that the fortune teller had been wearing. Sneaking
Svenska back to the fortune teller's shop with a gun, she there catches her lover and the fortune teller "laughing and kissing," and shoots them both to death, presumably in a fit of rage; the song implies she
Edit links blacked out upon shooting. ("Next thing I knew, they were dead on the floor.")

In 1974, "Dark Lady" topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for one week, becoming Cher's third solo #1 hit. The song became a top 10 hit in Norway and a top 20 hit in the Netherlands. Like "Half-Breed," the
song struggled in West Germany and the UK, though it managed to reach top 40 status in the UK.

Music video [ edit ]

There are two versions of the video. The first version of the video is a live performance that was aired in the third season of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour in 1973. In
this performance Cher was dressed all in black and was wearing a black veil on her head. The second version of the video is an animated cartoon done by John David
Wilson's animation studio; this second video follows the whole story of the song.

In 2002, a special remix medley was created by Dan-O-Rama for a video montage that was used in Cher's Living Proof: The Farewell Tour. The medley contains videos of
"All I Really Want to Do", "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves", "Half-Breed", and "Dark Lady". Unlike the other videos, "Dark Lady" was unique because both the live-action
and the animated videos had been mixed.

In 1999, Cher performed this song throughout her Do You Believe? Tour, for the first time in twenty-five years. In 2002, she performed the song 325 times in her Living
Proof: The Farewell Tour.

Cher performed the song on the following concert tours/Las Vegas residencies:

Do You Believe? Tour

The Farewell Tour
The live version, and the
cartoon version. Cher at the Colosseum
Dressed to Kill Tour
Classic Cher
Here We Go Again Tour (Oceanian leg only)

Charts and certifications [ edit ]

Weekly charts [ edit ] Year-end charts [ edit ]

Peak Chart (1974) Position

Chart (1974)
position Canadian RPM Top Singles[14] 47
Australian Singles (Kent Music Report)[3] 17 US Billboard Hot 100[15] 33
Belgian Singles Chart 22 US Billboard Top Easy Listening Singles[16] 35
Canadian RPM Top Singles[4] 2

Danish Singles Chart[5] 9 Certifications [ edit ]

Dutch Mega Top 50 Singles Chart[6] 15

Region Certification Certified units/sales
New Zealand Singles Chart 11
United States (RIAA)[17] Gold 1,000,000^
New Zealand (Listener)[7] 12
^
Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Norwegian Singles Chart[8] 10

Quebec (ADISQ)[9] 4

South African Singles Chart[10] 4

Swedish Singles Chart 10

UK Singles Chart[11] 36

US Billboard Hot 100 1

US Adult Contemporary Chart (Billboard) 3

US Cash Box Top 100[12] 2

Zimbabwe Singles Chart (ZIMA)[13] 9

Formats and track listing [ edit ]

UK and US 7" Not Released

1. "Dark Lady" – 3:26 1. "Dark Lady" (Mixmaster F Farewell Club Mix) (a.k.a. White Label Remix) – 7:25
2. "Two People Clinging to a Thread" – 2:40
Argentina 7"

1. "Dark Lady" – 3:26

2. "Carousel Man" – 3:02

Credits and personnel [ edit ]

This section needs expansion.

You can help by adding to it. (April
2021)

Cher – vocals
Johnny Durrell – lyrics
Snuff Garrett – producer

Cover versions [ edit ]

In 1974 Lea Laven recorded the Finnish rendering of "Dark Lady" entitled "Tumma nainen". "Tumma nainen" was also recorded by Ami Aspelund for her 1974 album Ami and also by Jean S. for their
2003 album Sammakkoprinssi.[citation needed]

In the same year, Argentinian singer Johnny Tedesco recorded a Spanish version called "Te quiero tanto (Dulce gitana)".

References [ edit ]

1. ^ "Dark Lady" . Songfacts.com. Retrieved 2009-12-29. 6. ^ Steffen Hung. "Cher - Dark Lady" . Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 12. ^ "Top 100 1974-03-30" . Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved
2. ^ Peter Fawthrop. "Dark Lady - Cher | Songs, Reviews, 2016-10-09. 2015-04-16.
Credits" . AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-10-09. 7. ^ Flavour of New Zealand, 4 May 1974 13. ^ Kimberley, Christopher. Zimbabwe Singles Chart Book: 1965-
3. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 8. ^ Steffen Hung. "Cher - Dark Lady" . Norwegiancharts.com. 1996.
(illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 61. Retrieved 2016-10-09. 14. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada" .
ISBN 0-646-11917-6. 9. ^ "Palmarès de la chanson anglophone et allophone au Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
4. ^ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada" . Québec" (in French). BAnQ. Retrieved September 11, 2019. 15. ^ "Billboard Top 100 - 1974" . Retrieved 2009-09-15.
Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2013-12- 10. ^ Brian Currin. "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 16. ^ "Billboard Year-End Charts 1974" (PDF).
11. Retrieved 2016-10-09. 1965 - 1989 Acts (C)" . Rock.co.za. Retrieved 2016-10-09. 17. ^ "American single certifications – Cher – Dark Lady" .
5. ^ "The Hits of Cher: The Danish Hits of Cher" . 11. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). Recording Industry Association of America.
Cherhits.blogspot.dk. Retrieved 2016-10-09. London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 112/3. ISBN 1-
904994-10-5.

External links [ edit ]

Cher - Official Site

Cher - Dark Lady on YouTube

· · Cher [show]

· · Cher singles [show]

Authority control MusicBrainz work

Categories: 1974 singles Cher songs Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Number-one singles in Sweden Songs about New Orleans Song recordings produced by Snuff Garrett
1974 songs MCA Records singles Animated music videos

This page was last edited on 4 September 2022, at 11:35 (UTC).

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